In my previous post in this five-part series, I suggested that the numerous forms of popular culture media, including television, music and even advertising, offer us a potential looking glass into ourselves. Popular culture is not some amorphous torrent of sights, sounds and objects that bombard us-at least not without our permission and awareness. We are the producers of all things popular as well as its consumers. So, it makes sense that by paying close attention to the fruits of popular culture, no matter how seemingly insignificant or trivial, we can learn about ourselves. It is the memorable movie quotes, catchy advertising tag lines and poignant song lyrics that grab and stay with us, and from which we guide our lives. In this second post, I reflect briefly on family relationships in popular culutre, and then turn to my co-author Mike Brody who was interviewed on Let's Talk Live

In the geopolitical sphere, nuclear proliferation threatens to destroy civilization as we know it.  however, at home, it is the disintegration of the nuclear family that has many worried. It is not, and perhaps never was an Ozzie and Harriet world of 2.5 children growing up in sprawling bucolic suburbia. Where are the models for family? To whom do we turn for lessons about parenting? Our own parents, perhaps! The family next door! Many of us turn to television and the movies for ideas about what constitiutes the so-called 'normal' family and the ideal way of parenting. In the 1960's, it was Leave it to Beaver, at least for middle, white America. In the 1970's, we traveled into the inner city with the Evan's Family in the sitcom "Good Times." There, life was grittier, but the firm and loving hands and hearts of John Amos and Esther Rolle were parental antidotes to the harsh city life. In the 1980's, Dr. Huxtabel, aka Bill Cosby showed us how humor and intelligence were the cardinal ingredients of good parenting and a healthy family life in the popular Cosby Show. The 1990's brought diversity, in every sense of the word to depictions of the American family, from Family Guy to Party of Five. And now, in the new millenium, we have 'reality' family shows such as Wife Swap and Kid Nation, which if anything, teach us how not to be as a family and how not to parent. The standards for the 'normal family' and 'normal parenting' are built upon the shifting sands of TV ratings. Today's famiy is complex and ever-changing; moreso than any TV sitcom or drama could accurately depict. Divorce, re-marriage, step-families, adoption, surrogacy, single-parenthood and gay marriage are challenging variations on a very old and traditional theme. What can we learn about these new ways of being in the family from pop culutre representations on television, in the movies and literature? Perhaps, we can only turn inward and look at our own beliefs about family and parenting for guidance.  Sure, the pdychological literature has alot to say on this score, but may not be as accesible to people as is popular culture.So, please reflect on the following excerpt from our book Messages: Self Help Through Popular Culture, and then send along your own reflections.